East Baton Rouge Parish Library

Mortal sins, sex, crime, and the era of Catholic scandal, Michael D'Antonio

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 645-711)

no index present

non fiction

Mortal sins

bibliography

844726339

Michael D'Antonio

Thorndike Press large print nonfiction

sex, crime, and the era of Catholic scandal

In the mid-1980s, a dynamic young monsignor assigned to the Vatican's embassy in Washington criss-crossed America to investigate the problem of sexually abusive priests. He found a scandal in the making, confirmed by secret files revealing complaints that had been hidden from police and covered up by the Church hierarchy. He also understood that the United States judicial system was eager to punish offenders and those who aided them. He presented all of this to the American bishops, warning that the Church could be devastated by negative publicity and bankrupted by its legal liability. They ignored him. Meanwhile, a young lawyer listened to a new client describe an abusive sexual history with a priest that began when he was ten years old. His parents' complaints were downplayed by Church officials who offered them money to go away. The lawyer saw a claim that any defendant would want to settle. Then he began to suspect he was onto something bigger, involving thousands of priests who had abused countless children while the Church had done almost nothing about it. The lawsuit he filed would touch off a legal war of historic and global proportions